Kalamazoo 2011: Symposium on Teachers and Students in the Middle Ages (May 12-15, 2011)

Kalamazoo 2011: Symposium on Teachers and Students in the Middle Ages (May 12-15, 2011)

The Medieval Studies Program at Southern Methodist University invites contributions to a session on medieval teachers and students for the 46th International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 12-15, 2011, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The richness of recent work on medieval rhetoric and grammar demonstrates a growing scholarly interest in the content and form of teaching in the Middle Ages. Rita Copeland and Ineke Sluiter’s _Medieval Grammar and Rhetoric: Language Arts and Literary Theory, AD 300-1475_ (2009), Marjorie Curry Woods’ _Classroom Commentaries: Teaching the Poetria nova across Medieval and Renaissance Europe_ (2010), and the special issue of _New Medieval Literatures_ on “Medieval Grammar and the Literary Arts” edited by Copeland, Chris Cannon, and Nicolette Zeeman (2009) reveal an understanding that the intellectual products of the Middle Ages, whether literary, philosophical, or even musical, were intimately bound up with the basic classroom pedagogy used to teach grammar and rhetoric. If the subjects studied throughout the Middle Ages are essential to understanding the intellectual and creative legacy of the period, then the teachers and students who transmitted and engaged with these ideas bear further examination as well.

We seek papers that address the complex relationships and encounters between teachers and students, using a variety of methodological approaches. We hope to bring into conversation scholars working in a broad spectrum of fields, such as literature, art history, music, history, philosophy. Papers might focus on: representations of teachers and/or students in art and literature, historical teachers and students, the role of emotions and affect in teaching, child and adult learners in the Middle Ages, and the ties of violence and love between teachers and students. We also invite papers that use material from a variety of genres, including but not limited to art, hagiographies and other vitae, letters, grammatical texts and pedagogical dialogues.